Writing Right for the Web

Making Website Life Easier for Faculty & Staff and Students That’s been the result of every CCI (Customer Centric Index) satisfaction survey that we’ve done with faculty over the past 10 years. The primary reason has always been the same: confusing menus and links make it difficult for people to find and complete their top […]

Hello in May. Now that the traditional May 1 enrollment deposit date has passed, many of you are entering the “summer season” devoted to controlling the number who might melt away and adding new people to the total. Best wishes for success to everyone.If you work at a college or university, ask me for an […]

An April hello to everyone. And best wishes for a successful enrollment deposit time as that traditional May 1 date approaches colleges and universities here in the U.S.Are you interested in content marketing strategy and web design to quickly and easily meet visitor expectations? Do you work at a college or university?If “yes” is your […]

March greetings. Today’s newsletter arrives while I am at an Academic Impressions conference with old colleagues and new friends as we explore the best steps forward in a website redesign. Follow along today and tomorrow morning on Twitter at #aiWebRedesign. My presentations from the website redesign conference are online now. “Best Practices for Top Task Web […]

Xavier University Story Continues: Creating the Most Distinctive Home Page in Higher Education Last week I presented the first two answers to questions I sent along last year to Xavier to learn more about how they decided to position a “Search” box and the dominant feature of the university’s home page. Here today are the […]

Xavier University’s “Search” Home Page: A Clear Path to Top Task Completion Higher education marketers often discuss how a college or university can differentiate itself in a crowded marketplace. That differentiation almost never takes place on the first contact many potential students have with a school: the home page. Last year when searching about for […]

February greetings to long-time and new readers. The 2106 eduWeb Digital Summit Call for Papers is extended until February 7. Review the 5 track choices and send a presentation proposal this week. Start at bit.ly/1Or24vf and plan to join us in Denver in August.My December article on “6 Great Website Examples” for connecting quickly on a website starts […]

Happy New Year! Best wishes to everyone for marketing success in 2016. My December article on “6 Great Website Examples” for connecting quickly on a website starts with a unique home page from Xavier University. See how 5 other schools distinguish themselves at bit.ly/1mfWFMl The Call for Papers for the 2106 eduWeb Digital Summit in August is open until January […]

Connect in 5 Seconds or Less to Create Marketing Strength Yes, you have 5 seconds or less when a web page opens to make a connection with someone visiting that page. People have to immediately see something they understand and that “something” had best be based on a top task the visitors want to complete. […]

September greetings. A bright new 2015-16 academic year is underway almost everywhere. Let us all enjoy the feelings that come with welcoming new students, opening new classes, and awaiting fine fall weather. In the digital marketing era the website is the most important element for successful student recruitment. See why that is true at “4 Top […]

Websites gain marketing advantage with top task design The secret to making your website an effective marketing tool: clean and simple design that lets visitors complete their tasks as quickly as possible. Experience on the site is more important than “stunning” hero images or other design fads. For years now I’ve been a partner in […]

Bucknell University… website comments from website developers New discussion among the University Web Developers community took place this week on the pros and cons of the Bucknell University website launched earlier this year after one member wrote in with a link to the Jakob Nielsen group’s critique of the site. In April and May I […]